Part 68 (2/2)
Fourth--That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and a.s.serts its determination when that is completed to leave the government and control of the island to its people.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CITY OF HAVANA AND HARBOR, SHOWING WRECK OF THE BATTLEs.h.i.+P MAINE.]
This resolution was signed by the President April 20th, and a copy served on the Spanish minister, who demanded his pa.s.sports, and immediately left Was.h.i.+ngton. The contents were telegraphed to United States Minister Woodford at Madrid, with instructions to officially communicate them to the Spanish government, giving it until April 23d to answer. The Spanish authorities, however, antic.i.p.ated this action by sending the American minister his pa.s.sports on the morning of April 21st. This act was of itself equivalent to a declaration of war.
The making of history now went forward with impressive swiftness.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BATTLEs.h.i.+P ”MAINE” Destroyed in Havana Harbor, February 15, 1898, by which the lives of two officers and 264 members of the crew were lost. This disaster was popularly believed to have been the work of Spaniards, and was a potent factor in hastening the war between Spain and the United States.]
On April 22d the United States fleet was ordered to blockade Havana. On the 24th Spain declared war, and the United States Congress followed with a similar declaration on the 25th. The call for 75,000 volunteer troops was increased to 125,000 and subsequently to 200,000. The ma.s.sing of men and stores was rapidly begun throughout the country. Within a month expeditions were organized for various points of attack, war-vessels were bought, and ocean pa.s.senger steamers were converted into auxiliary cruisers and transports. By the first of July about 40,000 soldiers had been sent to Cuba and the Philippine Islands. The rapidity with which preparations were made and the victories gained and the progress shown by the Americans at once astonished and challenged the admiration of foreign nations, who had regarded America as a country unprepared for war by land or sea. On April 27th, following the declaration of war on the 25th, Admiral Sampson, having previously blockaded the harbor of Havana, was reconnoitering with three vessels in the vicinity of Matanzas, Cuba, when he discovered the Spanish forces building earthworks, and ventured so close in his efforts to investigate the same that a challenge shot was fired from the fortification, Rubal Cava. Admiral Sampson quickly formed the _New York, Cincinnati_, and _Puritan_ into a triangle and opened fire with their eight-inch guns.
The action was very spirited on both sides for the s.p.a.ce of eighteen minutes, at the expiration of which time the Spanish batteries were silenced and the earthworks destroyed, without casualty on the American side, though two sh.e.l.ls burst dangerously near the _New York_. The last shot fired by the Americans was from one of the _Puritan's_ thirteen-inch guns, which landed with deadly accuracy in the very centre of Rubal Cava, and, exploding, completely destroyed the earthworks. This was the first action of the war, though it could hardly be dignified by the name of a battle.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY.]
THE BATTLE OF MANILA.
It was expected that the next engagement would be the bombardment of Morro Castle, at Havana. But it is the unexpected that often happens in war. In the Philippine Islands, on the other side of the world, the first real battle--one of the most remarkable in history--was next to occur.
On April 25th the following dispatch of eight potent words was cabled to Commodore Dewey on the coast of China: ”Capture or destroy the Spanish squadron at Manila.” ”Never,” says James Gordon Bennett, ”were instructions more effectively carried out. Within seven hours after arriving on the scene of action nothing remained to be done.” It was on the 27th that Dewey sailed from Mirs Bay, China, and on the night of the 30th he lay before the entrance of the harbor of Manila, seven hundred miles away. Under the cover of darkness, with all lights extinguished on his s.h.i.+ps, he daringly steamed into this unknown harbor, which he believed to be strewn with mines, and at daybreak engaged the Spanish fleet. Commodore Dewey knew it meant everything for him and his fleet to win or lose this battle. He was in the enemy's country, 7,000 miles from home. The issue of this battle must mean victory, Spanish dungeons, or the bottom of the ocean. ”_Keep cool and obey orders_” was the signal he gave to his fleet, and then came the order to fire. The Americans had seven s.h.i.+ps, the _Olympia_, _Baltimore_, _Raleigh_, _Petrel_, _Concord_, _Boston_, and the dispatch-boat _McCullough_. The Spaniards had eleven, the _Reina Christina_, _Castilla_, _Don Antonio de Ulloa_, _Isla de Luzon_, _Isla de Cuba_, _General Lezo_, _Marquis de Duero_, _Cano_, _Velasco_, _Isla de Mindanao_, and a transport.
From the beginning Commodore Dewey fought on the offensive, and, after the manner of Nelson and Farragut, concentrated his fire upon the strongest s.h.i.+ps one after another with terrible execution. The Spanish s.h.i.+ps were inferior to his, but there were more of them, and they were under the protection of the land batteries. The fire of the Americans was especially noted for its terrific rapidity and the wonderful accuracy of its aim. The battle lasted for about five hours, and resulted in the destruction of all the Spanish s.h.i.+ps and the silencing of the land batteries. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was estimated to be fully one thousand men, while on the American side not a s.h.i.+p was even seriously damaged and not a single man was killed outright, and only six were wounded. More than a month after the battle, Captain Charles B. Gridley, Commander of the _Olympia_, died, though his death was the result of an accident received in the discharge of his duty during the battle, and not from a wound. On May 2d Commodore Dewey cut the cable connecting Manila with Hong Kong, and destroyed the fortifications at the entrance of Manila Bay, and took possession of the naval station at Cavite. This was to prevent communication between the Philippine Islands and the government at Madrid, and necessitated the sending of Commodore Dewey's official account of the battle by the dispatch-boat _MCCullough_ to Hong Kong, whence it was cabled to the United States. After its receipt, May 9th, both Houses adopted resolutions of congratulation to Commodore Dewey and his officers and men for their gallantry at Manila, voted an appropriation for medals for the crew and a fine sword for the gallant Commander, and also pa.s.sed a bill authorizing the President to appoint another rear-admiral, which honor was promptly conferred upon Commodore Dewey, accompanied by the thanks of the President and of the nation for the admirable and heroic services rendered his country.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MAP OF CUBA]
The Battle of Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets may have been, the world agrees with the eminent foreign naval critic who declared: ”This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool, well-balanced judgment, discipline, and bravery. It was a magnificent achievement, and Dewey will go down in history ranking with John Paul Jones and Lord Nelson as a naval hero.”
Admiral Dewey might have taken possession of the city of Manila immediately. He cabled the United States that he could do so, but the fact remained that he had not sufficient men to care for his s.h.i.+ps and at the same time effect a successful landing in the town of Manila.
Therefore he chose to remain on his s.h.i.+ps, and though the city was at his mercy, he refrained from a bombardment because he believed it would lead to a ma.s.sacre of the Spaniards on the part of the insurgents surrounding the city, which it would be beyond his power to stop. This humane manifestation toward the conquered foe adds to the l.u.s.tre of the hero's crown, and at the same time places the seal of greatness upon the brow of the victor. He not only refrained from bombarding the city, but received and cared for the wounded Spaniards upon his own vessels. Thus, while he did all that was required of him without costing his country the life of a single citizen, he manifested a spirit of humanity and generosity toward the vanquished foe fully in keeping with the sympathetic spirit which involved this nation in the war for humanity's sake.
The Battle of Manila further demonstrated that a fleet with heavier guns is virtually invulnerable in a campaign with a squadron bearing lighter metal, however gallantly the crew of the latter may fight.
Before the Battle of Manila it was recognized that the government had serious trouble on its hands. On May 4th President McKinley nominated ten new Major-Generals, including Thomas H. Wilson, Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. J.
Sewell (who was not commissioned), and Joseph Wheeler, from private life, and promoted Brigadier-Generals Breckinridge, Otis, Coppinger, Shafter, Graham, Wade, and Merriam, from the regular army. The organization and mobilization of troops was promptly begun and rapidly pushed. Meantime our naval vessels were actively cruising around the Island of Cuba, expecting the appearance of the Spanish fleet.
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BATTLE OF MANILA, MAY 1, 1898.
ADMIRAL MONTOJO. ADMIRAL DEWEY.
This ill.u.s.tration is historically correct. It shows the positions of the vessels in that memorable battle which sounded at once the death knell of Spanish authority in the East and West Indies.]
On May 11th the gunboat _Wilmington_, revenue-cutter _Hudson_, and the torpedo-boat _Winslow_ entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to attack the defenses and three small Spanish gunboats that had taken refuge in the harbor. The _Winslow_ being of light draft took the lead, and when within eight hundred yards of the fort was fired upon with disastrous effect, being struck eighteen times and rendered helpless. For more than an hour the frail little craft was at the mercy of the enemy's batteries. The revenue-cutter _Hudson_ quickly answered her signal of distress by coming to the rescue, and as she was in the act of drawing the disabled boat away a sh.e.l.l from the enemy burst on the _Winslow's_ deck, killing three of her crew outright and wounding many more. Ensign Worth Bagley, of the _Winslow_, who had recently entered active service, was one of the killed. He was the first officer who lost his life in the war. The same sh.e.l.l badly wounded Lieutenant Bernadon, Commander of the boat. The _Hudson_, amidst a rain of fire from the Spanish gunboats and fortifications, succeeded in towing the _Winslow_ to Key West, where the bodies of the dead were prepared for burial and the vessel was placed in repair. On May 12th the First Infantry landed near Port Cabanas, Cuba, with supplies for the insurgents, which they succeeded in delivering after a skirmish with the Spanish troops. This was the first land engagement of the war.
[Ill.u.s.tration: CAMP SCENE AT CHICKAMAUGA.]
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